May 20: Wagner blows save; that’s not the real concern

Well, we know Billy Wagner isn’t perfect. Four times this season he’s blown a save opportunity after doing it three times last year.

After today’s meltdown _ which resulted in the Mets losing 5-4 in 11 innings _ of course, you’ll boo him tomorrow night, or the next time he takes the mound for the Mets, but that’s misplaced anger or frustration.

Wagner isn’t the Mets’ primary pitching concern. Not even close.

With a gaping hole in the back end of their rotation, the Mets are in position where twice in every five games there might not be a chance they’ll even get to use Wagner.

That’s what you should be concerned about.

Aaron Heilman, for now, isn’t an option to move out of the bullpen, and he shouldn’t be. With things as precarious as they are, the Mets need as much bullpen depth as possible. Pedro Martinez gave them seven strong today, but they can’t count on more than that from him or Tom Glavine.

They are considering Mike Pelfrey, who’ll get a look before they start talking trade.

I’ve been writing from the start that the Mets’ pitching is a concern. It was great in April, but things have settled down.

John Delcos enters his third season covering the Mets for The Journal News after eight seasons on the Yankees beat. Prior to coming to New York, John covered the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Indians.

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2 Comments

Anonymous

Don’t you think it’s time to update this thing. Couldn’t find 1 interesting thing to say about a 3 game series with the Yanks? Maybe it’s better that you just do nothing, because my sense is you never have a nice thing to say about the Mets. Maybe you should give this up and go work with Mike and Dog. Nobody is saying this Mets team isn’t without their flaws, but you seem to thrive in pointing them out.
You also need to develop a sense of humor. Other than that….keep up the good work! ( That’s my sense of humor….just wanted you to see what it’s all about.)